Los gnósticos y sus restos

AT the first sight it is absolutely startling to recognise so many Gnostic (primarily Indian) symbols, figuring so conspicuously amongst the insignia and illustrated formulæ of our Freemasons, and that, too, apparently in their original sense as exponents of the deepest mysteries, human and divine--a circumstance of itself lending a specious colour to the pretensions of the Order to the most venerable antiquity. "Inscriptiones propter quas vadimonia deseri possint. Sed ubi intraveris, Dii Deæque! quam nihil in medio invenies," to quote old Pliny's words in speaking of the charlatans of his day. For the pleasing illusion vanishes when we come to investigate the line of their descent; and the Fraternity, though claiming them as its own legitimate inheritance, turns out at the end a mere daw in borrowed plumes.

To begin by stating these claims, as recently put forward by one of their most zealous and pugnacious defenders: "The mere title may be comparatively modern; for the society in antediluvian (!) and prehistorical times most undoubtedly was not called Freemasonry. But the thing was in existence, and has descended to our own day." "On the arrival of the Romans in Britain, we find Cæsar and several of the Roman generals who succeeded him in the government of the island becoming patrons and protectors of the craft; but there is no information to be found in regard to the usages and customs prevalent among them at that time. Their lodges and conventions were

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regularly held, but were open only to the initiated fellows. There is enough however to show that the same society which now flourishes everywhere was then in existence, holding lodges and conventions and having its initiated fellows. I may add, that a regular list of Grand Masters can be produced quite as genuine and reliable as that of the Archbishops of Canterbury, or of the Kings of England. If that in itself is not valid evidence enough of the continued existence of the same society in England from the earliest historical period down to the present date, I don't know what would be admitted as sufficient evidence." "Going back to A.D. 300 we find the Emperor Carausius supporting it, and appointing Albanus, his Steward, Grand Master. This was none other than the famous St. Alban, the first British martyr, who was born at Verulam, now St. Albans, in Hertfordshire." *

The above is an unusually brilliant specimen of the logic of the Brotherhood, that assumes in every notice of building and builders to be found in antiquity a recognition of the then existence of their own society exactly as at present constituted. The old guild of working-masons seems to have made pretensions of the same nature (if we allow the genuineness of the supposed Bodleian MS. copied by Locke); for their great patron Henry VI. informs his scholar that "the Mystery was first brought into England by Peter Gower" (Pythagoras)--a corruption of the name, by the way; plainly betraying that he had obtained this piece of information from a French mouth, probably from some one in the suite of his queen. It is not unlikely that this connexion of the Father of Mathematics with the building trade arose from the study of that science by the Greek and Roman architects: for upon the vital importance of a knowledge of Mathematics to his own profession Vitruvius repeatedly and strongly insists. But this very king, whom our Freemasons claim as their chief resuscitator, furnishes the most conclusive evidence against the reality of their modern pretensions. By the advice of the Bishop of Winchester, better known as Cardinal Beaufort, he passed an Act, in his third year, forbidding

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[paragraph continues] Masons to hold lodges or any meetings whatsoever, which protection is clearly directed against no higher things than mere "trade-union" proceedings. But at a later period he showed the Masons more favour, and even attended their meetings, as did his contemporary James I. of Scotland. But the question is set at rest by the language of the Act: * "First, Whereas by the assembling congregations and confederacies made by the Masons in their grand chapters and assemblies the good cause and effect of the Statute of Labourers be openly violated and broken, in subversion of the law and to the great damage of all the commons, our said Lord the King willing in this case to provide remedy by the advice and assent aforesaid, and at the special request of the said commons, hath ordered and established, that such chapiters and congregations shall not be hereafter made, they that cause such chapiters and congregations to be assembled and holden, if they thereof be convict, shall be judged for felons. And that all the other masons that come to such chapiters and congregations, be punished by imprisonment of their bodies, and make fine and ransom at the king's will."

Footnotes

376:* From a letter published in the 'Cork Constitution,' Jan. 15, 1866, by John Milner, B.A., Chaplain to H.M.S. Hector.

377:* 'Statutes at Large,' ed. Keble, 1695. 3 Hen. VI. cap. 1.

The Earliest Masonic Document

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The language of this Act is sufficiently conclusive, but for accumulation of proofs, I shall proceed to establish the same position by giving a summary of the oldest, and only genuine document extant on the subject of Masonry. This document is a MS. Bib. Reg. 17. A. I. ff. 32, written in a hand that cannot be later than the close of the 13th century, and of which a copy has been published by J. O. Halliwell. It commences with a history of Architecture from the beginning, and of the introduction of the art into England, and then proceeds to give, in rhyme, the Rules of the Craft, conceived in precisely the same business-like spirit as those of a Trades-Union. The preamble is: "Hic incipiunt Constitutiones Artis Geometricae secundum Euclydem." † Once upon a time a certain king and his nobles had such large families as to be unable to maintain them decently, and taking counsel together devised they should be

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taught some trade whereby to live. A great clerk Euclyde proposed teaching them geometry, called Masonry, the most honest craft of all. He ordered that the most advanced of his scholars should be styled Master by the rest, but that he should call none of his inferiors either subject or servant, but always my dear brother.

"In this manner by good wit and Geometry,
Began first the Craft of Masonry."

Euclyde invented and taught the same in Egypt: many years afterwards it was brought into England in King Athelstan's time. This good king loved the Craft and built many towers, halls, bowers, and temples. But finding out many defects in the Craft he determined to reform the same and summoned an Assembly of all the masons in England together with all his lords and commons, and,

"Fifteen Articles there they brought,
And Fifteen Points there they wrote."

Art. I. The master must be just and true, and pay his fellows according to the price of provisions: neither exact more from his employer than he pays his men; nor take bribes from either side.

II. Every master-mason must attend the general congregation or Assembly, wherever it shall be held, unless hindered by sickness, else shall he be accounted disobedient to the Craft and full of falseness.

III. No prentice to be taken for less than seven years, for in less time he cannot learn his business either to his employer's profit or to his own.

IV. No bondsman may be taken for prentice. Otherwise it might so happen that his lord might take him out of the lodge itself, and so occasion great tumult, for all the masons would stand together by their fellow. The prentice must therefore be taken of the master's own degree; but of old times it was ordained he should be of gentle blood, and even great lords' sons took to this geometry.

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V. The prentice must be of lawful birth, and sound both in mind and body:

"For an imperfect man of such blood,
Should do the Craft but little good.
A maimed man he hath no might,
Ye may it knowen long ere night."

VI. The master must not take from his employer the same pay for the prentice as for the perfect workman. Nevertheless, before the prentice's time is out, as he increases in knowledge, so may his wages be proportionably raised.

VII. The master must neither for love nor money clothe, feed, or harbour a thief, nor a homicide, nor one of bad fame, all which would bring the Craft to shame.

VIII. If the master finds any of his men incompetent he must turn him off, and take another in his place, "as such a hand would do the Craft short worship."

IX. The master must undertake no job that he is unable to finish, and must see that he lays the foundation so that it will neither give nor crack.

X. No master-mason must supplant another under penalty of ten pounds unless where the work has tumbled down through the incompetence of the first builder. In all points of this "curious Craft" masons must live together like brethren.

XI. No mason is to work by night unless for the sake of trying experiments for amending errors.

XII. No mason must disparage the work of another, but rather must praise the same, and if wrong, privately advise him how to aright it.

XIII. The prentice must be taught every branch of the business, and be put upon work suitable to his ability.

XIV. The master must take no prentices, unless he have divers jobs in hand, in order to teach them the trade.

XV. The prentice must be a friend to his master, never deceive him for the sake of another; neither stand by his fellows in a wrong cause, nor take a false oath.

These Fifteen Points were likewise ordained at the aforesaid Assembly:--

I. The mason must love God, Holy Church, and his fellow-masons, wheresoever he may go.

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II. The mason must work as truly as he can upon the workday, and so deserve his pay upon the holy day.

III. The prentice is on no account to divulge any trade secrets.

"This Third Point it must be special,
Let the prentice know it well,
His master's counsel he keep and close,
And his fellows’, by good purpose;
The secrets of the chamber he tell to none,
Nor in the lodge whatever is done.
Whatever thou seest or hearest them do,
Tell it no man wherever thou go.
The counsel of hall and eke of bower,
Keep it well in great honour,
Lest it should bring thyself to blame,
And bring the Craft into great shame."

IV. That no mason be false to the Craft nor maintain his cause against it: neither do prejudice to master nor fellow, and that the prentice stand in awe.

V. The master must take his wages, whatever ordained him, without disputing. The master, if unable to find them work as before, to give them warning in the forenoon.

VI. If any dispute or quarrel arise amongst the masons, the master must make them put off the settlement thereof until the next holy day; and not allow it to be settled upon a workday, lest it should hinder the work in hand.

VII. Not to lie with thy master's or fellow's wife or concubine under penalty of serving another seven years of prenticeship.

VIII. If thou hast taken any job under thy master, be a faithful middleman between thy master and thy fellows.

IX. When the fellows have a common chamber then they must take the stewardship in turns, week by week. All victuals to be paid for as received, and regular accounts to be kept of the common expenses.

"Of thy fellows' goods that thou hast spent,
When, and how, and to what end,
Such accounts thou must come to
When thy fellows would thou do."

X. If a mason lives amiss and is false to his work, he must, without favour, be convened before the Assembly, and punished

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according to the law of old ordained: or, in case he refuses to appear, he must forswear the profession.

XI. If a skilled mason observe his fellow cutting a stone and likely to spoil it through his own ignorance, he must advise him in fair words, and teach him how to amend it, not to bring shame upon the whole work.

XII. That whatever shall be ordained in the Assembly, being present the master and fellows, noble's, burghers, and the sheriff of the county, and the mayor of the town, that thou shall maintain against all thy fellows, if disposed to dispute the same.

XIII. The mason must swear never to be a thief himself, nor for any fee or reward to abet one that is.

XIV. Before the Assembly breaks up, each must be sworn unto his master and fellows, to the king, and to all these present. Also they must seek out every one that hath contravened any one law thereof, and bring them up before the Assembly.

XV. And if found guilty, they must forswear the Craft:

"And so mason's craft they must refuse,
And swear it never more to use,"

unless they consent to make amends. If refractory, the sheriff is to cast them into prison during the king's good pleasure, and take their goods and chattels for the king's use. The Assembly must be held every year, or at least every third year. Unto the same must come every man of the Craft, and all the great nobles, to amend all infractions, and to swear obedience to the Constitutions of King Athelstan; and especially to make bold petition to the king that he stand by the masons everywhere and enforce the same statutes.

"The Four Masters--
Who were as good Masons as on earth could go,
Gravers and image-makers they were also,"

were commanded by the Emperor to make an idol to be worshipped. On their refusal he first imprisoned and tortured them, and at last put them to death. These be the "Quattuori

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[paragraph continues] Coronati," and their festival falls on the eighth day after All Saints. Many years after Noah's Flood, was begun the Tower of Babylon. It was built up to the height of seven miles, by order of Nebuchadnezzar, for a refuge in case of another deluge. But an angel, in order to punish his pride, smote all the builders with confusion of tongues. After this Euclid taught geometry, and gave his scholars the following rules.

Behaviour in Church.--To use the holy-water on going in: to kneel down, never sit nor stand, make no noise nor talk, but pray all the time, saying certain prayers given in the text. To attend mass daily, but if at work to repeat a certain prayer upon hearing the mass-bell.

In Company.--On coming before a lord, to doff cap or hood nor put in on again until bid; make two or three bows with the right leg, hold up thy chin, look him sweetly in the face; do not scrape the foot, nor spit or blow thy nose. On entering a hall amongst the gentelles, be not presumptuous on account of thy birth or skill:

"In hall or chamber where thou dost gan,
Good manners make the man."

When sitting down to meat, see thy hands be clean and knife sharp: cut the bread and meat ready for eating. If sitting by a worshipful man, suffer him to help himself first. Keep thy hands clean, smudge not the napkin, on which thou must not blow thy nose: nor pick thy teeth at table; neither drink with anything in the mouth, nor dip thy chin too deep in the cup, nor talk to thy neighbour when drinking.

"In chamber among the ladies bright,
Spare thy tongue, and spend thy sight."

Talk not of thine own matters, neither for mirth nor for mede. Play only with thine equals. On meeting a man of worship be sure to cap him; walk a little way behind him; never interrupt his speech; be brief and fair in thy replies, &c.

"Christ then, of his grace,
Give you both the wit and space
Well this book to con and read,
Heaven to have for your mede.
Amen! Amen! So mote it bee!
So say we all par charité."

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Any reader of common intelligence will perceive that the good priest, author of this the oldest extant document upon Masonry, had not the remotest idea of the same as being the possession of a secret society, established for some hidden end, whether religious or political. The very rules which he professes to transcribe from the Constitutions of Athelstan, are as plain-spoken, matter-of-fact as these of a modern Trades-Union, differing only from the latter in the larger admixture of common sense and honesty that they display, the whole winding up with directions for behaviour in good society, as laid down by some anticipatory Chesterfield. The "secrets of the lodge" are manifestly nothing more than matters pertaining to the trade discussed amongst the masons at their lodgings after work, and very inexpedient for them to be divulged to outsiders. And to come to the most essential point of the question which these Constitutions fully establish, "the Assembly" is, so far from being a secret chapter, held by the Free and Accepted Brethren only, that it must actually be presided over by the sheriff of the county, and the mayor of the town where it is held! for the purpose of settling all matters connected with the building-trade; being in fact nothing more than what was called in those times an "Assize of Labour."

Footnotes

377:† What follows is a much condensed summary of the sense of the old Mason's rhymes.

No Relation of Modern Masons to Mediæval Guilds

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An interesting feature in the treatise is the fact of its ascribing these same "Constitutions" to King Athelstan. There is very good reason for accepting this statement as founded upon trustworthy tradition. The Saxon Prince was the first British sovereign who possessed either wealth or inclination for decorative architecture or building of any sort. His father, Edward the Elder, and his aunt Ethelfleda "the Lady of Mercia," are recorded as the first of the Saxon line who built fortifications of stone about their chief cities. Before this the Saxons, like all other Teutons, had no other idea of building than of constructions in wood, all stone-masons had to be brought over from France when wanted (as numerous references, unnecessary here to quote, conclusively evince), in which country architecture had kept up a feeble existence after the fall of the Empire, its preservation being due to the patronage of the Church, which kept growing in wealth and

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power in proportion as the Roman authority died away. The simplicity of the Constitutions in prescribing the convening of mere craftsmen under the presidency of the sheriff and mayor, betokens a truly Saxon state of society, and moreover a time when these masons were actually working-men. Under the Normans, regular architects (in one sense) first appear as the "Masters," who were almost invariably churchmen. Furthermore, the prohibition against taking a "bondman" for prentice unmistakably betokens the same early period, when domestic slavery, not mere villanage, was recognised by law: the Norman legislation makes no such distinction of bond and free.

Aubrey indeed quotes the authority of Dugdale that "the Fraternity of Adopted Masons," having signs and passwords for the purpose of mutual recognition, owed its origin to a company of Italian masons, who in Henry III.’s time obtained a patent from the Pope to go about Europe, building churches. But the absurdity of this statement is manifested by a single fact: when the Italians of that period wished to erect any important edifice, so far from being competent to do so for other nations, they were forced to call in architects from Germany and France. To give a few decisive examples, as regards the wealthiest and most polished states of that country:--Pisa employed Guglielmo il Tedesco to plan her celebrated Campanile; Florence, Lapo, alias Jacopo il Tedesco, father of Arnolfo (who had already gained high reputation by the triple church he had built at Assisi for the Franciscans), to construct their bridge "Alla Carraia," the Bargello or Townhall, several churches, and to drain the Piazza Grande. Even a century later the Visconti were obliged to employ German architects to design the Duomo at Milan. It is true Henry III. had in his pay one Peter "civis Romanus," but only in the capacity of a decorative artist, for the mosaic work at the Westminster Shrine. But in truth, during the entire Gothic period, architecture, as a national art, may be said to have been extinct in Italy, the grand centre of the art then being established in the very middle of France.

All this evidence goes to show that our Freemasons have no

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relationship, either actual or traditional, with the mediæval guilds bearing the same appellation, a pretence they so zealously maintain. The latter were corporations of real workmen, in which each person, after serving a regular apprenticeship, and, according to the custom still kept up in some counties, producing a trial-piece to prove his competency, was admitted "free" of the Guild, and "accepted" amongst the members of the same. The compotations accompanying the ceremony are in truth the sole point of resemblance between the ancient and the modern Freemasons.

The 'Bulletin Monumental' for 1884, p. 34, contains a memoir, "Les signes de Tacherons sur les remparts d’Avignon," which gives the fullest collection (six pages) of these marks that has ever been published. They can be here traced from Roman times where they appear as single letters or as Trionian shorthand, down to the actual Masons’ Marks of mediæval and modern times. Many clearly represent the tools used in building. Some of these marks, and more of those from Avignon, are to be recognised upon Lichfield's "Baphometic Tablet;" which may, after all, be no modern forgery, but a genuine register of such segli of the seventeenth century. *

The mediæval guild of Masons, as we have seen, was no more a secret society than were the guilds of Carpenters, Cordwainers or Tailors. Every man indeed belonging to the first-named (and this is the only thing belonging to the Craft, that really carries with it an air of mysterious antiquity) had, upon admission, a mark (or cypher) assigned him, which he was bound to put upon every stone he dressed (a rule still observed) in order to distinguish his work from that of his fellows, against the time when the materials should be examined by the master-mason, who paid him for those approved, but stopped his wages for those spoiled through his fault. Similarly every "Merchant of the Staple" joined with his initials upon his seal, or trade mark, the mark of the staple-town to which he belonged. This latter, though

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much alike in outline, was variously modified so as to indicate each of the fifteen towns in England, Ireland, and Wales, appointed by Edward III. In all mediæval documents relating to building, the name "Freemason" signifies merely the worker in hewn stone, the inferior workman who ran up the body of the wall in rubble or ragstone being called the "Rough-waller." Lastly, a very puzzling question presents itself--if our Freemasons be the legitimate successors in an unbroken line of the ancient lodges and guilds, how came it that all the principles of Gothic architecture were utterly lost within less than a century?

Footnotes

385:* Most interesting of all, on account of their early date, are the Masons’ Marks at Westminster Hall, lately published by Dr. Freshfield, in the Archæologia, Vol. 50, Part I.

Masons’ Marks

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But to return to the marks themselves, of which many collections have been published gathered from regions the most widely separated. Their history is indeed full of interest but likewise of obscurity; "res alta nocte et caligine mersae." Many of them are traditional, and go back to the highest antiquity, being found on Phœnician * and Greek buildings (as well as on vases and coins of the earliest times), and in still larger abundance and variety in all mediæval architecture. These marks were in the beginning religious symbols, many of them being identical with the caste-marks, whereby to this day the followers of the respective Hindoo gods are distinguished from one another. This religious significance explains also their occurrence on Celtic monuments, as on the Stonehenge lintel, and the Newton Stone, Aberdeen, and so numerously on the Gallic coins; but they have for centuries, further back than can be traced, degenerated into the mere signatures of illiterate mechanics. † To illustrate this curious point, I shall adduce a

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few of the most remarkable examples of lapidary symbolism, * giving, as in duty bound, precedence to the late discovery at Stonehenge. The mark is cut upon the fallen impost lying across the supposed altar. It is nine inches long and clearly defined, and may be described as a semicircle of which the diameter being produced, its own length terminates in a second semicircle reversed and open, combined with the Roman letters, L, V; having in fact much the appearance of a sigla or nota scriptoria. The mark has therefore something in its look that suggests the signature LVCIUS. Had the sagacious Stukeley discovered this inscription he would unquestionably upon the strength thereof have ascribed the whole fabric to the British Lucius so renowned in fable. It must not however be concealed that our fashionable scepticism has impugned the reality of even this most venerable "handwriting on the wall." Dr. Thurman has hunted up three credible witnesses ready to make affidavit that they saw with their own eyes a certain stranger cut the sigil. † But inasmuch as it would be equally facile, by means of leading questions dexterously put, to obtain the testimony of the same number of "bucolical juveniles" that they were present at the erection of Stonehenge itself, the genuineness of the mark (so unmodern in configuration) seems to me in no measure disproved. Symbolic figures, spirals and interesting circles are found on the stones in Newton Grange, Drogheda Cave, Routh Linn, Old Berwick, Doddington Moor, Northumberland; Long Meg, Cumberland. The latter have been published in the Archaeological Journal.

But to proceed to actual Caste-marks. We find a casual allusion to their use in ancient writers, who state that the badges distinguishing the three orders of the Egyptian priest--xix. p. 78. ‡

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hood were the Θ signifying the sun; the Τ eternal life; and the Δ pleasure. With the Hindoos, the equilateral Triangle symbolises Mahadeva, or Siva, that is, the element Fire personified.

The same figure inverted stands for Vishnu, Water.

The two, intersecting each other, form the Sherkun or six-points; that is, the two elements in conjunction.

The five-pointed figure, made by bisecting the sides of an equilateral triangle by a line as long as one side, and drawing lines from each extremity of the said line to each foot of the triangle, symbol of Siva and Brahma (the latter god having five heads) became, later, the famous "Solomon's Seal." This appellation it must have got in early times, as in virtue thereof it is sculptured along with the seven-branched candlestick upon Sivish tombs dating from the Lower Empire. * The Hindoos still venerate the figure as replete with virtue. Similarly the Sherkun is engraved on a large scale upon each side of the gate of the Fort at Agra, although the building is of Mohammedan work.

A point, Puru, is the Deity; self existing. A circle, Brahm, eternity. Hence a triangle within a circle is the emblem of Trinity in Unity; and the circle inscribed within a triangle the converse.

Worshippers of Sacti, the Female Principle, mark their sacred vase with a right angle bisected by a line; and similarly the worshippers of Isis used so to mark the vessel necessary at her rites. But the Vishnaivas have for the same object a symbol of wondrous vitality and diffusion: for it is seen equally on Greek coins and vases, on the Newton Stone, Aberdeen, in ecclesiastical sculpture, where it takes the name "Tetragrammaton,"

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being ignorantly supposed the compounds of the letter Γ four times repeated, and its sound and power confounded with those of the sacred "Tetragrammaton," or the Hebrew quadriliteral name Jehovah. This mark is properly the symbol of Sitala, the seventh incarnation, entitled "Trithalesor," a title exactly translated by the alchemical Trismegistus: its name is the Swastika, an emblem of Resignation; so that the figure nay have passed into Byzantine art with some recommendation from a knowledge of its real meaning. In Gothic nomenclature this mark becomes the equally renowned "Fylfot," as to whose etymology the following conjecture may be hazarded. The Swastika signified at first the arms crossed over the breast, the regular Indian gesture of submission, and also the legs similarly folded as the statues of Buddha are usually represented. The symbol is evidently nothing more than the rough outline of the arms and legs thus disposed. May not therefore the Gothic name Fylfot, applied to the same hieroglyph, bear through some remote tradition a reference to its real meaning, and imply the sense of Fold-foot? In the same way the old Greeks appear to have recognised its true sense, when they changed its simple form into the three conjoined legs that so aptly allude to the name Trinacria. In all probability the great popularity of the symbol, wheresoever the Indo-Germanic race penetrated, was due to the same feeling that renders it still so respected in the land of its origin, its power as a talisman to protect all places where the figure is painted up. The exclamation "Swastika" the Hindoos still employ as a mode of assent, synonymous with "Amen," "So be it." * As the symbol of Resignation the Mark forms the distinctive badge of an ascetic. When a man desires to become a Bandya (Buddhist monk) the rites required for his initiation occupy three days, foremost amongst which the Swastika is solemnly set up, upon an altar of unbaked bricks; the neophyte being seated on the ground with his legs disposed after the same fashion. In China the Mark is the badge of the Pon, the strictest sect of Buddhists, who attribute its invention to Buddha himself, about six centuries before our era. This

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fact may explain how "denying oneself and taking up the cross" came to signify the embracing an ascetic life; for so evident are the traces of Buddhist influence over the institutions of the Essenes, that it is probable enough the symbol retained its pristine acceptation amongst the sect.

The Swastika occurs amongst the signet-devices of the old Jaina kings of Guzerat (belonging to the far-removed epoch of Buddhist supremacy in Hindostan), in company with that intricate square figure which when appearing on Greek works is denominated a Labyrinth. Other sectarian Marks are three paralled lines placed horizontally, or vertically, to denote their respective deities: others of truly Masonic aspect, are the wheel, crescent, heart, vesica piscis, all variously modified to express ritualistic differences. That the Gnostics borrowed many of these symbols directly from Buddhism, * adding them to their old stock of Egyptian devices, is apparent upon the inspection of any large collection of Abraxas gems. The lingering influence of this importation continually peep out where least to be expected. In the finest known MS. of the Apocalypse, the work of a French illuminator about the middle of the thirteenth century (in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge), the most elaborate of all its decorations is the heading to chapter xiv., filling half a page. It represents "The Lamb standing upon Mount Zion," surrounded by the saints; above, is the Godhead, typified by an immense golden Quatrefoil, encompassed by the Four Beasts which bear the names of the Evangelists; at each side and below are the Four-and-twenty Elders, arranged in groups of six, eight, and ten. Within the Quatrefoil is seen an empty throne covered with a cloth crossed by diagonal blue lines; in each diagonal so formed is painted in red a circle containing a point. This geometrical expression of the idea of the Deity, so opposed to the characteristic anthropomorphism of regular Gothic art, may perhaps have been inspired by the Manicheist spirit that still actuated the Southern French. But to go back to the source--in the

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[paragraph continues] Chinese system, Yang, the Male, Active, Principle has for his own possession, the Sun, Fire, and all the higher phenomena of Nature: to him belong the uneven numbers. Yn, the Female, Passive, Principle, possesses the Earth, Moon, and the even numbers. The same notion as to the sexes of Numbers was taught by Pythagoras, and by the Gnostic Marcus, after him. Yang is represented by the circle, Yn by the square, the two Forces combined, by two interlaced circles,

[figure]

, the actual badge of the Mediaeval Vehm-Gerichte.

Footnotes

386:* A most interesting example is the stone in the second course of the Temple Wall, S.E. Jerusalem, discovered Jan. 1869 It bears two marks, deeply cut,

[figure]

and

[figure]

. Other marks in red paint resemble Phœnician letters. Deutsch observed many such on the walls of the old Castle of Sidon, built from ancient materials. He considers them numeral, unity to 9 being represented by vertical lines, 10 by a horizontal, 20 by two parallels, &c. It is, however, ridiculous to attribute the foundation of the Temple Wall to Solomon's architects, the fact of its being cut through ten feet of rubbish thrown from above proves it to have been done long after the city was inhabited, and therefore the work of Agrippa.

386:† Who have introduced a refinement upon the old system, viz., the necessity of every mark terminating in an odd number of ends.

387:* Regular Masons’ marks are visible upon the great hewn stones of the Buddhist buildings at Sarnath, which are known to have been erected before the sixth century; and more of the same kind are found on the ruined buildings of the same religion still to be traced incorporated into the Brahminical edifices within the neighbouring Benares. Sherring, 'Sacred City of the Hindus.'

387:† It must be remembered the stone is so hardened by weathering as to turn the best chisel!

387:‡ Lists of Masons’ marks have been published in the following works: Archæologia (1845), for Scotland, by Prof. Chalmers; Marks p. 388 at Brechin, and signatures to St. Ninian's Roll, coming down to the date 1814. Ditto, for 1844, contains a memoir by G. Godwin, with five plates of marks from England (Gloucester, Tewkesbury), France, Germany (Köln). 'Annales Archéologiques' (1844-5), 'Signes Lapidaires,' from Coney, Avignon, Palais de Justice, Paris, Vincennes. Rheims, Strasburgh. Most curious of all are those given by Ouseley ('Travels,' pl. 82), as "characters of some unknown alphabet," found by him on the stones of the Old Palace (a Mohammedan building) of Saaditalat, near Ispahan; which nevertheless have a striking resemblance to the European class.

388:* Numerous examples may be seen in their catacomb at Rome, lately discovered.

389:* Or, to speak masonically, So mote it be!"

390:* Scythicus, the preceptor of Manes, is actually declared by Epiphanius to have picked up his novel ideas during his visits to India as a trader from Alexandria.

Origin of Modern Freemasonry

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Having thus briefly noticed our Masonic Symbols, let us proceed to consider the society itself, and here a circumstance of the utmost importance to this inquiry must always be kept in view: the Freemasons, as at present organised into a mystic fraternity, derive their name from nothing but an accidental circumstance belonging to their first establishment. It was in the Common Hall of the Loudon Guild of the Freemasons (the trade) that their first meetings were held, under Christopher Wren for president, in the time of the Commonwealth. * Their real object was political--the restoration of Monarchy--hence the exclusion of the public, and the oath of secrecy enjoined upon the members. The pretence of promoting the study of architecture, and the choice of the place where to hold their meetings, suggested by the profession of their president, were no more than blinds to deceive the existing government. There is a curious analogy to all this in the history of another famous society, the Neapolitan Carbonari, which similarly derived its name, terminology and insignia from the accidental circumstances under which it was created. Like Wren's associates, the first Carbonari were defeated Royalists and fanatical Republicans joined in unnatural union by one common hatred of the powers that be--the old Bourbonists equally with the chimerical founders of the shortlived "Parthenopean Republic," equally forced to flee for their lives to the mountains, the former to escape the well-deserved vengeance of the French under Murat, the latter so fiercely persecuted by Cardinal

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[paragraph continues] Ruffo upon the first restoration of royalty at Naples. These desperate men, lurking about in the Abruzzi forests, were forced to assume the disguise of the only inhabitants of these wild regions, the carbonari, charcoal-burners, as the best means of eluding pursuit. After their forces had grown to a regular confederation, the disguise, so suggestive and terror inspiring, was retained for a uniform; a charcoal-sack was the badge of membership, a charcoal-measure the throne of the President, and their conclaves were held by rule in the midnight forest. When Ferdinand, "the Well-beloved," was firmly seated on his ancient throne, for the third and last time, his diligent eradication of his former friends, the Constitutionals, folks almost equally crazed with the original "Parthenopean" patriots, sent thousands of exiles to swell the ranks of the Carbonari. Soon the society was able to establish ramifications all over Italy, thanks to the paternal government of the Austrians and their protégés, the various restored princes of the Bourbon and Este lines; and thus in our own times Carbonaro and Liberal came to mean pretty nearly the same thing; and the Italian "Carbonaro" to know no more about charcoal-burning than the English "Mason" does about building.

Footnotes

391:* In April, 1616, when Ashmole was admitted member. Others named as present on that occasion were Lilly the astrologer, Dr. Pearson, the two Whartons, Hewitt, and Oughtred the mathematician.

The Rosicrucians

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But although this Society of Freemasons was convoked in London, and established branches all over England, furnishing also the members with the means for secret recognition, and all for a political end, yet in its true origin Freemasonry had nothing political in its nature, neither was the aforesaid convocation in London the real commencement of its existence. This final organisation was only the adaptation to a special end of another society, then in fullest bloom, the Rosicrucian. If we reflect how rankly both astrology and alchemy were flourishing at that time in England, * and that the Rosicrucian sect was essentially of Protestant growth, we may on good grounds conclude that this sect already numbered many English members from amongst the educated classes and the philosophers of the

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day. These last were for the most part ardent Royalists, hating the established order of things, joined with many fanatical Republicans equally impatient of the new despotism of Cromwell. In the Rosicrucian system Religion and Philosophy, the latter meaning little more than astrology and alchemy, * were strangely interwoven, and the terminology of the one was borrowed to express the ideas and aspirations of the other. This hypothesis is strongly recommended from its adoption by the acute De Quincey in his essay entitled "Freemasons and Rosicrucians" ('London Magazine,' 1824), where he shows how the Rosicrucians, when driven by persecution out of Germany, re-appeared in England as Freemasons, taking that name from the place of meeting, and from nothing else. Under the new appellation the sect was re-imported into the Continent as an English institution. De Quincey, however, makes their object to have been purely religious without any admixture of politics, and so far differs from Nicolai, whose views have been adopted by myself in what precedes, and who, being himself an illuminato of the first water, ought certainly to be regarded as the higher authority of the two.